I love Creston!

This week-end I was busy Making Memories with a friend as we drove to Creston, BC. We both needed to get away and since it is blueberry season it made sense to go to Creston. I have loved Creston since the first time I went there to visit. Fresh fruit and vegetables are for sale everywhere in this small town and with its wonderful climate anything will grow here.

We left early on Saturday and drove to Cranbrook where we stopped for our picnic lunch and for dessert we had ice cream at "Two Scoop Steve’s". We had no idea of where we were going to stay that evening - the only plans we had were for lunch on Sunday at the Skimmerhorn Winery. We drove ‘up the lake’ to Crawford Bay and found a great place to stay, had dinner and toasted each other with lemoncello after a walk on the beach.

Sunday morning it was off to the Farm to pick blueberries which was not as much fun as I though it was going to be. We picked a few and then decided to buy the rest. At the Blueberry Patch all berries are hand picked which is something I will appreciate every time I use them. I bought 25 pounds of blueberries, completely ignoring the fact that I don’t have a deep freezer.

Then off to Skimmerhorn Winery for lunch and wine tasting which was an amazing experience. The weather was perfect, our table was shaded by a huge maple tree overlooking the vineyard and the service by Rachel was delightful. The food was equally amazing, I had the bistro strip-loin with potato cakes and vegetables with a glass of the Marechal Foch which I like so much. For dessert we had the Black Forest Pot de Crème which was also perfect.

We purchased wine to take home and I am thrilled to be able to get wine that is made this close to home.

One last stop at a local farm to buy huge Lapin cherries – I am not really a cherry person but the Lapins should have their own category of fruit – big, juicy and sweet. I didn’t have to worry about freezer space for these burgundy rounds of perfection as I ate most of them on the way home and I had just enough berries left to fill two Mason jars. I tucked a vanilla bean in each jar and then poured brandy over them. Now I get to wait 4 weeks to see if these drunken cherries are as awesome as I expect.

Just heard that the peaches are ready in two weeks – who wants to go?